Autumn Eyes
by Childish Tendencies
Summary: Sunsets are a repeated miracle, a second never repeats itself. Preanime MaiOtome. ShizuruNatuski
1. Chapter 1

This is a request from Korwell

It's rated for violence, language, and sexual content that exists in later chapters

This occurs while Natuski and company are still in school in the Mai-Otome storyline, thus pre-storyline

Enjoy

* * *

Autumn crispness surrounded her, evident in the softly burnt leaves and the sunset that reflected the shades of foliage burning them into Natsuki's green eyes. There was no warmth left at Guaderobe academy, time had stolen summers sunny days and the humidity had vanished under the same pretences. The air was chilled but only under the sight of approaching twilight, the little lukewarm air that remained would vanish with the sinking of the sun.

Watching the sunset seemed like an overly symbolic thing for someone like her to do, she wasn't an artist nor a poet and her ability to explain the beauty of such a simple thing was limited. At one time, she might dream of sharing a sunset with someone but at the moment, she knew she wasn't running out of sunsets any time soon. So she sat patiently on the bench and waited for another passing introduction to night.

"Krugar-san, correct?"

Not trusting only her ears, she whipped her head around to find the speaker of this question.

Red-brown eyes that mimicked flawlessly the hue of the leaves that framed them. Or perhaps the leaves were the imitation. An upperclassman, appearing utmost graceful, stood smiling with closed eyes.

"Y-yes." She answered, a deplorable stutter betraying her usual stony confidence. The brusque interruption had jarred her from her silent revelry but the feeling of relaxation seemed to return up the upperclassman's approach to the end of the bench.

"Does someone need me?"

She couldn't think of anyone on campus who could be dying for her attention enough so to send a very proper looking upperclassman to fetch her. Mai was out today, presumably walking in the woods again. This upperclassman stood just beyond the sun's reach, where the shadows of twilight had saturated the pathway.

"No, I was just walking; would it trouble you if I sat here?"

Natsuki stood, choosing rather to skip the sunset then engage in time-consuming palaver.

As if reading her mind the girl said, "Don't worry; just pretend I'm not here."

The underclassman blinked a few times, impressed by her accurate intuition but stayed standing insistent on avoiding contacts with other humans. "I have to get going anyway, enjoy the sunset."

She watched her feet scuff across the path as she walked away; it was a self-induced loneliness and a vow she'd taken to watch the sunset only by herself until she'd achieved strength.

In her lapse of attentiveness, she ran into a body. Looking up she found a particularly foreboding group of girls, near eight in total, staring down at her.

"Have you seen Shizuru-oneesama ?"

The speaker, and presumably leader, was a gossipy looking girl with an accusing lilt in her voice as if Natsuki had recently kidnapped the person they were looking for. It took a second for their suspicion to register and when it did she looked over her shoulder to where the upperclassman had been seconds before, all that remained was a lone bench.

"Was she over there?" This time it wasn't the gossipy girl but one of her cohorts whose tone was so nasty the underclassman decided against answering. It didn't go over too well; one of the taller girls seized her by the collar. "Hey runt! We asked if she had been over there!" She was pulled to a point where she was almost off the ground then slapped across the face; the painful stinging just caused determined anger to creep into her eyes. With a swift kick to her attacker's stomach, she pulled away and yelled, "What the hell do you think you're doing? It's none of your goddamn business! Who even said I knew that bitch you idiots?!" The injured girl withdrew swearing into the group, the leader looked at her vehemently, "Little bitch!" A fist connected to her jaw and she lost her balance with the stars that clouded her eyes, she covered her head with her hands knowing she was now vulnerable to the onslaught that would no doubt ensue.

"Please step away from her."

A recognizably soft voice, she looked up passed the faces of vicious schoolmates to the upperclassman, Shizuru she guessed. The group parted on command, turning from vicious attackers into obedient puppies, the leader tried to argue, "But Shizuru-oneesama she insulted you!" She whined pathetically.

Shizuru simply walked up to her lying on the ground and offered her hand. Natsuki scowled and stood up by herself, not willing to give this Shizuru person the satisfaction of being her rescuer.

She wiped a trickle of blood from an already swollen lip and looked at the group that had attacked her so unprovoked. "You all go to hell."

She turned around coolly and walked back to her dorm.

* * *

Haruka's body made a three-foot deep crater in the outside wall off the P.E equipment building. Shizuru stood victoriously, a halberd thrown over her left shoulder that followed the line of her extended right arm whose hand grabbed the weapon right before the start of the blade.

Natsuki watched impressed, her inattentive admiration earned a hard blow to her shoulder by her sparring partner. She spun from the force and hit the ground gracelessly a few feet away. Her partner, Mai Tokiha, pulled her to her feet. "Pay attention! I don't wanna break your face."

Natsuki grabbed her attention back from the upperclassman and nodded, apparently not fast enough to bypass notice. "Oh are we staring at Shizuru-sama?" Natsuki opened her mouth to argue but Mai spoke again. "Can't blame you, she's beautiful isn't she? Apparently, she's head of the Trios and the pearl class. I heard she's already landed a spot on in the five columns even though she doesn't graduate for another five months. The graceful Shizuru Viola-sama." Mai looked almost dreamily across the gym field, "Look who's staring now?" Natsuki mumbled grumpily and reassumed her battle position. "Some say she could even beat the headmaster." Natsuki looked at the unrealistically softened upperclassman who was smiling while the recently revived Haruka Armitage begged her for a rematch while accusing her of cheating and pointing out her flaws, all at the same time. After a second she felt someone looking at her and turned to see, catching Natsuki's eye, she waved. Natsuki looked away with a half-angry half-sheepish blush invading her cheeks. Mai looked between the two of them.

"Do you know her?"

Natsuki rolled her eyes, "Why would I know such an annoying person?"

In what seemed to be direct defiance of her previous statement, Shizuru walked up and offered her hand as if they were at a ball. It quickly attracted the attention of almost the entire class, including Haruka who stopped dead in the middle of her sentence.

The older girl bowed her head slightly and asked, "May I have this dance?"


	2. Chapter 2

If you were to have been present during that battle and someone had later asked you to recount it for them you'd only have to recount about three seconds. A proper description of what had occurred would be, 'the underclassman got her ass kicked through a tree by Shizuru-sama.'

Natsuki had stood with a prepared dignity raising the metal rod used as a weapon by coral class otomes. Shizuru had simply stood there, not even looking ready for battle, much less appearing that she was taking any of this seriously. Natsuki charged and swiped her weapon hitting only air, shocked, she meant to look at her target but soon found herself distracted by the elbow that struck her vertebrate with painful accuracy. Flying forward several feet, she hit the ground, somersaulted once then smashed head first into a tree.

Mai instantly ran to where her friend was struggling to get up, body still intact thanks to the helpful nanomachines that coursed through her veins. On hands and knees she coughed up a small bit of blood, more from her split lip than any internal complications. A teacher ran over to assist Mai in her attempt to help Natsuki to her feet. Shizuru reached her first though and pulled her up with one arm.

Apparently, for the wounded otome, the fight wasn't over and such chivalrous actions as helping her to her feet did not merit forgiveness for a humiliating defeat. Natsuki's fist flew through the air, but met only Shizuru's palm. Her attempts were as useless as trying to beat up a wall made of uncut diamond.

"Maybe you should try a kick this time Natsuki-chan, my lower body is weaker than my upper half."

Though she hated taking an enemies advice she aimed a leg sweep at her attacker, Shizuru simply jumped to avoid it. Shizuru just blinked at her, surprised.

"Ara, I guess I was wrong."

Her mocking words were only met with a scornful scowl, "Bitch."

"That's enough both of you."

A teacher came between them, Shizuru simply put up both her hands in a sign of surrender.

* * *

Mai was laughing hysterically at a battered Natsuki; she got out a few words between gasps for air.

"Your luck can not possibly be this bad."

Natsuki simply clenched her fist and grit her teeth hoping to whatever god existed in this twisted world that the impact in her last class had knocked her out and this was some comatose nightmare.

Shizuru stood smiling at her from her teacher's side. Mai was still in hysterics as she stay stationary, fuming.

Not that life skills had ever been her favorite class in the first place, in fact had it not been for her injuries she would've easily skipped it, but now it was hell.

"Excuse me sensei am I allowed to ask how ballroom dancing falls under the scope of life skills?"

Natsuki attempted to use words that didn't sound laced with cyanide almost failed.

"Well, it was a special request from Viola-san."

Ah, the perks of being one of the best fighters this side of the country.

Hearing this, Natsuki snagged Mai by the back of her uniform just in case the teacher announced a free for all partner grabbing.

Shizuru smiled and whispered something to the teacher, who listened intently nodding a few times then telling Shizuru she had a wonderful idea which only succeeded in making Natsuki's stomach drop a level lower in her intestines.

"Viola-san had pointed out to me that pairing according to ability will teach you all more."

Now her stomach dropped clear to her ankles. She already knew what was going to happen.

"Now the bottom of the class would be-" Natsuki squeezed her eyes shut, "Krueger-san, and the top would be-" Shizuru put her hand gently on the teachers shoulder and smiled, "Sensei, may I request tutoring Krueger-san in this matter."

The teacher nodded, apparently ecstatic about such an innovative idea. "That sounds perfect; maybe Krueger-san will actually learn something." The emphasis on learn made her wince.

After the assignment of the other pairs gentle mocking music squeezed out of someplace or another as Natsuki did anything but look at Shizuru. Though everyone else had already started their attempts at a graceful dance she completely ignored her tormentor's existence.

"So does Natuski-chan know any waltz steps?"

She just crossed her arms and looked at the ceiling moodily.

"Oh I think I get it, Natsuki-chan probably prefers tango."

In an eased fluid motion the upper classman grabbed her wrist spun her in a tight surprised circle and leaned her over backwards in perfect mimicry of a tango. Natsuki's eyes were wide and jaw close to unhinged until she realized her position and pushed away from Shizuru which earned an express trip to the floor. The wind left her lungs as it often does when you land suddenly on your back, and she stared helplessly to the ceiling. Shizuru entered her vision and before she could manage to mutter a string of prepared curses using airless vocal chords the upperclassman said with a certain amount of sharpness, "Ole"

Struggling to her feet all she could do was ask, "What the hell is your problem?"

"Krueger-san! How dare you address Viola-san in such a way! Leave my classroom immediately."

* * *

"Can't believe you have the gall to show up here after how much trouble you got me in."

Despite her anger Natsuki had a certain amount of dignity, which was why she was still sitting on the bench instead of making useless attempts at pounding Shizuru into the floor. She kept her eyes focused on the occurring sunset. Shizuru had the good sense not to sit down next to her or maybe there was some kind of force field of palpable hatred around her.

"I just wanted to see Natsuki-chan."

They both faced the sunset but she wondered if they were actually seeing the same thing. She stood, this thought clinging to her mind, and turned to Shizuru.

"Viola-sama, I swear to defeat you before you graduate."

A dramatic wind seemed to blow between then whipping her hair behind her as Shizuru turned and smiled between blown autumn leaves.

"I'm looking forward to it Natsuki-chan."

She turned on a heel and left Natsuki choking on her prideful words.


End file.
